Interview: Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, the former
border-state Governor of New Mexico and marijuana industry executive,
believes he is the voice of reason America needs

From his self-built house in the mountains of Taos, New Mexico, the self-made Gary Johnson is making his second consecutive run as the Libertarian Party’s candidate for president.

Aldous Huxley also used to live in Taos and made New Mexico his setting for The Savages Reservation of the dystopic Brave New World. But Johnson’s brave new world is the opposite of Huxley’s. “Minimum government, maximum freedom” is the Libertarian utopia, which bills itself as “the party of principle”.

The Libertarians have a presence in every US state with a total registration of about 250, 000 voters, described as white, pro-choice, younger, better-educated, and more affluent than the average Democrat or Republican.

In 2012, Mr Johnson captured 1.2 million votes, just under 1 per cent of the popular vote in the general election – the most votes in a presidential contest in the party’s history.

Mr Johnson during his 2012 campaign Photo: Getty

A popular two-term Republican governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, Mr Johnson had already made a fortune creating one of the biggest construction companies in the state.

As governor, he became known for his veto record, killing more than 750 bills during his administration – more than all other governors combined. His slashing style earned him the nickname of Governor Veto.

Now 63-years-old, the father of two adult children remains an avid outdoorsman and has scaled the highest peak on each of the seven continents, including Mt. Everest. Politically, he is a self-described “classic liberal – fiscally conservative and socially liberal”.

Mr Johnson acknowledges that some people believe that the Libertarian party advocates complete anarchy or no government at all. But in his view there is a role for government and he asserts that there is no candidate of any party who can completely walk the party line.

Mr Johnson on the campaign trail in 2012 Photo: Getty

The Libertarian party’s official position is that “government’s only role is to help individuals defend themselves from force and fraud”, referring to individuals, corporations, or foreign governments that would try to harm US citizens. Mr Johnson says that government has gone way beyond that role and is now “way too big, tries to do too much, costs too much”.

Indeed, according to the Libertarian candidate, “the biggest threat to our national security is that when Barack Obama leaves office there will be a 20 trillion dollar debt and that just isn’t Obama’s fault. That’s Republicans and Democrats both who can’t seem to get a grip on spending too much money.”

In 2012, Mr Johnson hit the campaign trail but this time around he intends to focus on tapping into social media, allowing him to spend much of his time in Taos.

The campaign sued the US Presidential Debate Commission to try to force them to allow Mr Johnson’s participation in the Presidential Debates. Mr Johnson says he is prepared to take that fight all the way to the US Supreme Court if necessary.

Mr Johnson has been a strong voice for the legalisation of marijuana in the US since his time as governor of New Mexico. And before announcing his candidacy on the Fox Business television network, he resigned his position as president and CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc., a Nevada-based firm.

A medical marajuana operation in New Mexico

The candidate’s governing style may be summed up best by his long-espoused admonition: “When you have a politician who is going to burn the midnight oil on behalf of you the taxpayer – beware, beware.”

As far as the Special Relationship goes, he says, UK citizens should have no worries with Mr Johnson, the voice of reason, in the White House.

You ran for president four years ago in 2012. Now, four years later what is lighting the fire in your belly to run for President?

GJ: “The fire in the belly is who is the voice of reason in 2016. I sure don’t think that it’s Donald Trump, who looks to be the nominee. And Hillary looks also to be the nominee and can there be anyone more establishment than Hillary Clinton? A Clinton Administration will ramp up government bigger than it already is."

Donald Trump is branding himself as the self-made man outside the Washington political arena. He's hijacking the Gary Johnson brand, isn't he?

GJ: “I’ve said throughout this Trump campaign that there’s a 100 per cent analogy to me having run as governor of New Mexico. The pitch was I’ve never been involved in politics before, I’m paying for my own campaign. I’ve had a successful business. But I don’t think I ever said anything as remotely stupid as the first thing I’m going to do is deport 11 million illegal immigrants. I realise that would not be the responsibility of the governor of New Mexico. But that’s just cockeyed. That’s just crazy. He says he’s following up the deportation by building a wall across the border.

What is so wrong about deporting people from the US who are presumably in the country illegally?

GJ: “If you go back 50 years, if you go back 40 years, the US was a different country and it wasn’t really considered illegal immigration. Citizens from Mexico came across the border, settling in New Mexico and other states to make better lives for themselves. And now their children have had children have had children. And you’re going to have millions of Americans in the category of having been here for a long time. They now have families and you’re going to deport them back over the border?

"For the most part, these are hardworking individuals trying to make better lives for themselves. They’re here for one reason and that’s to work. The handful who do come here for welfare benefits is far outweighed by the number who never lay claim to those benefits. The great untold story is that a false Social Security Number is given to an employer so that the illegal Mexican can work. Well, those are taxes that are withheld (by the employer) and never laid claim to (by the worker). Illegal immigration from a dollars and cents standpoint is positive for the US.”

You’re making Trump’s position on immigration sound really crazy – is he mentally stable enough to run for president?

GJ: “I did the 24/7 campaign thing in 2012 for 3 years. There’s a percentage of Republicans, the percentage that supports Donald Trump, which really believes that the scourge of the earth has to do with Mexican immigration. In my opinion it’s completely unfounded and I was the voice out there saying this is crazy.

"I was the voice in New Hampshire saying why not build a wall on the border with Canada to keep the Canadians out. The reply was ‘Oh, there’s no issue with Canadians – it’s a non-issue.’ And I replied, ‘Oh, and you don’t believe me as the former governor of New Mexico, a border state, when I say it’s a non-issue with Mexico?’”

You’ve been far ahead of your time on the legalisation of marijuana in the US – the first public official at the Governor’s Office level to advocate for legalisation I believe?

GJ: “I’m the only one still to this day – at the level of a state governor or US congressman – who advocates marijuana legalisation. That comes in conjunction with polling results of 56 per cent of Americans who think that marijuana should be legalised. Not one elected official at this level has agreed with the American people. Not one.

"Legalisation is going to happen anyway and I can’t think of a bigger public policy disconnect than the one we are talking about right now.

"The tipping point on marijuana will come after the California ballot box initiative in November to legalise recreational marijuana. Then you will see legislatures simply passing a law to legalise marijuana and governors signing them.”

Are you ahead of your time on other controversial issues?

GJ: "Yes, on the $20 trillion debt that Obama is going to leave although I’m certainly not blaming it all on him. A silver bullet for this situation is term limits for senators and congressmen. If elected officials had term limits they would do the right thing to curb spending. Right now for a Federal official to get elected and stay in office he must bring home the bacon for his constituents."

How would you deal with the Isil terrorism threat? Is it the US’s business anyway?

GJ: “There are three things that the US needs to be very concerned with: the $20 trillion dollar debt, personal freedoms and responsibilities – and that covers a lot of territory – and lastly there is an absolute Islamic terrorist threat that exists.

"Something that no one in this presidential race is discussing is that Sharia law is politics. Everyone in this country supports freedom of religion but Sharia law is politics. Sharia law is absolutely incompatible with the US Constitution and that starts with women’s rights We are clouding Sharia law with freedom of religion and we need to clearly separate the two. And we need to cut off funding to what is advancing Sharia law — something that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have done. This is a cyber war that we need to wage against Sharia law."

The US has gone through a horrific wave of gun violence. President Obama is taking steps he believes will lessen gun crime through executive action. What’s your position on gun ownership?

GJ: “Should the nation open a dialogue on how to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill? Yes.

"But I don’t see anything that Obama is doing other than politics.

"I am in the camp that if you outlaw guns only the criminals are going to have guns. I supported permitting the concealed carry of handguns in New Mexico. I believe there is a lot less violence in the parking lot, as they say, because the potential perpetrator of a theft or an assault is thinking twice because someone might be carrying a gun. Restrictions on gun ownership will only encourage outlaws to have heavy ammunition and high calibre weapons."